Formulation of the Claim
The Qur’an turns familial asabiyya into a religious asabiyya that makes belonging to the creed take precedence over blood ties.
Explanation
Arkoun reads this shift as a transition in the basis of the community from natural kinship to faith-based belonging. Asabiyya here is not understood as a simple continuation of the family, but as a reorganization of allegiance within an emerging religious community.
This meaning shows how the social bond is formed in the Qur’anic text within a new horizon, where relations among individuals are reformulated on the basis of shared faith. Consequently, familial belonging is no longer the highest criterion in the making of the community; instead, it becomes subordinate to the logic of creed.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim belongs to Arkoun’s reading of the transformation the Qur’an brought about in the social and symbolic structure of the community. It supports his broader thesis about the re-foundation of bonds within early Islam, where religious ties take precedence over earlier traditional ties.
Limits of the Claim
This claim should not be burdened with more than it can bear; it describes a reversal in the principle of belonging, not a comprehensive historical account of all forms of allegiance in Arab society.
Brief Evidence Passage
The Qur’an magnifies the break with fathers, sons, clan, tribe, wealth, riches, and immediate material life. It does all this in order to re-found the social bond on bases other than the earlier ones. It dismantles the old order in order to build a new one on its ruins. This is the hallmark of every revolutionary or coup-like act; for example, the funeral prayer is a public act that not only consolidates the integration of each individual within the community, but also represents an intimate spiritual communication with the rest of the members of the community.
They are all called to enter the history of eschatological salvation, that is, they are called to abandon the earlier Arab religion that recognizes the existence of nothing after death.
In the end, they are called to enter the es